Tag Archives: Noach (Parasha)

Hamas in the Torah

In this week’s parasha, Noach, we read about the Great Flood that “reset” the world millennia ago. The reason for the Flood is given in one terse sentence right at the beginning of the parasha: “The Earth became corrupt before God; the Earth was filled with hamas.” (Genesis 6:11) Two verses later, we are again told: “God said to Noah: ‘I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the Earth is filled with hamas because of them, so I will destroy them with the Earth.’” The mysterious word hamas appears just a few more times in the Torah. It is typically translated as “violence” or “lawlessness”. Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki, 1040-1105) comments here that hamas is gezel, “theft” or “robbery”. Chizkuni (Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoach, c. 1250-1310) explains that hamas is a particular type of theft or robbery accomplished through subterfuge and manipulation. He brings verses from other places in Tanakh that use this term to show that it can also mean sexual sin, idolatry, and the shedding of innocent blood. The Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham ben Meir ibn Ezra, 1089-1167) adds that hamas refers to the abduction of women against their will. As we’ve horrifically witnessed in recent days, all of these are accurate descriptions of the group that calls itself Hamas, an organization that is violent and manipulative, a band of thieves who abduct, rape, and pillage, shed the blood of innocents—and do it all supposedly in the name of Allah, a most-appalling act of idolatry.

Countries that designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.

This is certainly not a coincidence. It appears that long ago the Torah encoded and predicted the rise of yet another Hamas that would wreak destruction upon the world. In fact, every instance of hamas in Tanakh seems connected to the terror group Hamas. The third case after the two above is when Sarah vented to Abraham her frustration with the pregnant Hagar, saying hamasi aleikhah (Genesis 16:5). Of course, Hagar would go on to give birth to Ishmael, forefather of the Arabs and spiritual father of Muslims. This makes a clear link between hamas and Ishmael, so that we would know exactly who they are!

The next instance of hamas in the Torah is connected to Simon and Levi’s surprise-attack upon the people of Shechem. On his deathbed, their father Jacob reproved them for the massacre, and said they should not have taken up klei hamas against their neighbours (Genesis 49:5). The next two cases both invoke ‘adei hamas, lying and conspiring false witnesses (Exodus 23:1 and Deuteronomy 19:16). Lying eye-witnesses and staged “Pallywood” videos are a classic tool in the Hamas book of tricks. This was most apparent in the recent errant rocket that landed short in the parking lot of a Gaza hospital. A minor event with minimal damage was creatively transformed into a “major attack” by Israel upon a hospital that supposedly killed hundreds. The whole thing was an elaborate lie, but the media ate it up and demonized Israel instantly without bothering to check the facts.

King David presciently foresaw the lying media in Psalm 58, which he began by saying that those who are looked upon to speak truth and justice instead have “wrongdoing in their hearts”. They have blood on their hands, too, for they collude with those ba’aretz hamas (58:3). In Psalm 11 he reminds us that “God seeks out the righteous man, but loathes the wicked one who loves hamas.” They will get their comeuppance, and “He will rain down upon the wicked blazing coals and sulfur; a scorching wind shall be their lot. For God is righteous and He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face.”

Meanwhile, Ezekiel spoke at length about the final war at the End of Days (Ch. 38-39), then described the Third Temple and the outlines of a rebuilt Jewish kingdom. He quotes God as chastising the failed leaders of Israel: “Thus said the Lord God: Enough, leaders of Israel! Make an end of hamas and crime, and do what is right and just! Put a stop to your evictions of My people—declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 45:19) We shouldn’t forget that it was the State of Israel’s failed leadership that unilaterally handed over Gaza to the Palestinians back in 2005 and created this mess, while forcefully evicting Jews who had lived there peacefully. And we shouldn’t forget that Israel’s leadership once quietly supported Hamas in the 1980s, hoping to use them as a wedge against Fatah. (This was the same mistake made by the United States in supporting the Mujahideen against the USSR, only to have the same terrorists turn around and attack America some years later.) And where was Israel’s leadership last week? We are all still confounded as to how such a massacre was even possible. Ezekiel tells us that God will hold Israel’s leaders to account. And he makes it clear that the leaders of Israel must “do what is right and just” and finally end hamas v’shod for good.

That second term shod (שד) is typically translated as “crime” or “rapine”. However, the same word with the same spelling is shed, a demonic force. When we look at the recent crimes of Hamas—which they proudly displayed for the whole world—there is no doubt that the demonic was involved. No human being could commit such crimes without assistance and inspiration from the Sitra Achra, the “Other Side”, the realm of evil. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that our Sages centuries ago described that there are those within the House of Ishmael that are likened to “demons of the outhouse” (Kiddushin 72a). Interestingly, the numerical value of hamas (חמס) is 108, equal to Gehinnom (גיהנם). In Reishit Chokhmah, we learn that there are three origins or “gates” to Gehinnom: in the sea (ים), in the wilderness (מדבר), and in a settlement (ישוב). One can immediately see a connection to Hamas’ recent three-pronged attack, with an invasion by sea landing at the Zikim Beach, an attack on a nature party in the wilderness, and into Sderot and surrounding settlements. This was a massacre straight out of Hell.

It is worth concluding with a Mishnah in Eduyot (2:10) which suggests that five things last exactly one year or twelve months: the Flood, the suffering of Job, the plagues in Egypt, the forthcoming war of Gog u’Magog, and the judgement of the wicked in Gehinnom. This ties everything together: we began with the Flood, where the notion of hamas is first introduced; and our suffering today is much like the suffering of Job, who tragically lost all of his children, his home, his wealth and health, and even his faith. The Prophets compare the events at the End of Days to those in ancient Egypt (and say that Pesach seders in the future will recount not just the Exodus but also the salvation at the End of Days). And we hope to be in the final Gog u’Magog war now, when all evil and all the forces of Gehinnom will be defeated for good. This was foreseen by Isaiah, who declared that “No more shall hamas be heard in your land, nor shod or ruin within your borders” (Isaiah 60:18).

Let us pray that we see this day very soon.

Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel: Not What You Think!

Where did all the water for the Great Flood come from, and is it scientifically possible? Was Noah’s Ark a simple wooden vessel, or something far more complex and of another dimension? What did the post-Flood generations really find in Shinar, and was their Tower of Babel some kind of space ship? Find out in this class where we also discuss the secrets of the Holy Tongue, the “Watchers” and Nephilim, ancient technology, and why it is that most cultures from around the world have similar myths and ancient legends.

This class is based on the essay ‘Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel: Not What You Think! in Garments of Light, Volume One, available here.

Science and the Great Flood

In this week’s parasha, Noach, we read about the Great Flood, when “all the fountains of the great deep split apart, and the floodgates of the skies opened” (Genesis 7:11). While it is easy to understand the rain that fell upon the Earth “for forty days and forty nights”, what is the Torah referring to when it speaks of the waters of the deep? Why does it say that the “great deep” had to be “split apart” (נִבְקְעוּ֙) to bring forth these waters? And the biggest mystery of all: how was there even enough water to cover the entire Earth with water anyway, up to the tallest mountains? Upon closer examination, we find that these mysterious waters of the deep actually hold the key to solving the entire mystery of the Flood.

Kola Superdeep Borehole

In May of 1970, Soviet scientists began drilling into the Earth’s crust in the far north of the Kola Peninsula between Norway and Russia. Their goal was to dig the deepest hole ever, and uncover what is really happening in the Earth’s innards. Nine years later, they broke the world record for depth, reaching almost 10 kilometres underground. They hit the deepest point in 1989, reaching 12,262 metres. Beyond this, they could no longer continue, for the temperature was much higher than expected (over 180ºC) and the rock became far too porous.

Along the way, the scientists found some bizarre things. One was small fossilized lifeforms more than 6 kilometres down, where lifeforms should not—and should never—have existed! Another shocking discovery was that the porous rock deep below was completely saturated with water. More recently, scientists from Northwestern University examined rocks from the mantle (which emerged from volcanoes) and found that they were composed of 1.5% water. After further research, they concluded that there is three times more water beneath the Earth’s crust than there are in all of the world’s oceans! The temperature down there is very high, but so is the pressure, keeping the water liquid and squeezing it out of the porous rocks. With this in mind, we can solve a number of great mysteries.

First, we now have a scientific source for where much of the water for the Flood came from. Rain clouds alone would not have been enough. Note how the Torah mentions the waters of the great deep first, before mentioning the rain, implying that the former was the more significant source of water. Second, we can better understand the Torah’s precise language, since it says the depths had to be “split apart” for the floodwaters to emerge. This splitting apart would certainly be required for all that water in the mantle beneath to emerge. Third, we can actually solve a scientific mystery for the baffled scientists at Kola who found fossilized ancient lifeforms deep below: Perhaps those lifeforms ended up there when the floodwaters returned underground and the surface closed back up, sealing lifeforms from above down beneath in a place where they otherwise could never have gotten.

There is one more wonderful confirmation of all this when we look at the way our Sages described the Flood: the Talmud (Sanhedrin 108b) states that the floodwaters that came from below, “between their legs”, was boiling hot! This was measure for measure justice from God, since the people “sinned with heat, so they were punished with heat”. Heat here is a euphemism for sexual sin, and since the pre-Flood generation abused their nether regions, “between their legs”, God made sure that those floodwaters that came from below were boiling hot. Recall that the scientists at Kola were surprised that the temperature below was much hotter than they expected (yet the water remained in liquid form). They had to stop drilling because the rock was too mushy and “like plastic”. It is worth adding that the same page of Talmud says the water from below was not only hot, but also thick.

“Setting the Earth Upon the Waters”

There is one more fascinating mystery that can be solved with the scientific discovery of the Earth’s inner waters. Each morning, in Birkot HaShachar, we thank God for “setting the earth upon the waters” (רוקַע הָאָרֶץ עַל הַמָּיִם). This blessing troubled me for years. What does it mean that the earth is set upon the waters? Earth’s crust is set upon the rocky mantle, lying above the molten core—and the waters are resting upon the crust! It all seemed backwards. Yet, now we can see, as is often the case, that the Sages phrased it correctly all along: the crust is resting upon a mantle that is full of water, three times more water than in all the oceans! With that, we can appreciate this berakhah much more deeply, and recite it with ever-more kavanah.